The present invention pertains to animal collars and harnesses and more particularly to a collar or harness which disperses a chemical to rid the animal of fleas and ticks.
The conventional animal flea collar consists of a chemically impregnated plastic strap which is tied about the animal's neck. The plastic allows the chemical to slowly escape thereby ridding the animal of fleas for a period of time. However, when the chemical is exhausted the collar is no longer effective and therefore must be discarded and replaced with a new collar. Such collars are generally effective for a period of from one to three months. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,407 to Greenberg for a description of this type of pet collar. This type of collar does not have sufficient strength to serve as a restraining collar or to carry necessary license and vaccination tags, therefore, many animals, especially dogs, must wear both restraining collars and flea control collars.
A second type of flea retardant device is the flea tag. In this device, the flea retardant chemical is carried in a plastic tag which is attached to the animal's collar. The chemical is dispersed by the tag in a method similar to that of the collar. This device is generally less effective than the collar since its area of contact with the animal is limited. And, like the collar, the tag must be replaced when the chemical is exhausted.
The present invention solves both the replacement problem and the double collar problem by providing a sturdy collar to which is removably attached a member that disperses the flea or tick retardant chemical.